Help Halifax Na337 In Canada

Aw shucks, t’ain’t nothin’!

Keep em coming

Thanks for the support & comments posted on this topic. Hopefully everyone will remember to drop the museum a short email as well as leaving their comments.
Lancman, I’m beginning to like you 🙂
Halifax7

From my personal point of view, just the fact that Hendon have to move the Lanc back and forth, and take bits off it, just to get stuff in and out past it, is very distressing.

Hi folks.
It seems to me that building an aircraft display centre without doors is the sort of thing only an architect or designer can see as a good idea. Both the RAF Museum and the IWM Duxford suffer massive extra costs when they need to move aircraft (in the IWM’s case in the American Air Museum) all of which is money wasted if the buildings had proper hanger door style access.

Basically, not having proper access increases conservation and change costs and – excuse the pun- closes the door to a huge range of future developments and oportunities for that centre.

I can’t think of a museum that hasn’t needed to move aircraft, and those that have no doors suffer. The American air Museum has had one major move already, and it won’t be the last. The money that was spent on moving those great panes of glass should be avaliable for conservation or display – not cranes.

Lancman’s right that running engines on static aircraft are rare – but remember that stat is getting less so – the engines on Bull Creeks’ Lanc have been turned on electric power, and I’m sure they’d like to see if they could go the next step – having built oneself in must, at that stage, seem very shortsighted.

Cheers

Static aricraft that can/do run their engines are very, very much in the minority anyway; NX611 is a very rare case, and sadly not a precedent that other restorers are likely to want to follow, due to costs etc etc. Really, there’s not much of an issue here.

Well – I can see the value in being able to push the Halifax outside (a la the museum in Ottawa), but to be honest engine runs sound like a bad idea to me. It pains me to say it, but it’s going to be the only complete, genuine Halifax in the world, and if you put fuel in it and start engines running, you’re hugely increasing the risk of a fire, and the damage that could be caused by a fire.

Personally I think NX611 is a different situation, as there are a reasonable number of Lancs left, including several that are more or less identical.

I guess another potential problem is heating the hangar. As we all know, hangars are draughty places because of all of the inevitable gaps that you need to make opening doors. I think their decision is understandable, even though it would be nicer if they could get it out. At least they’re not stringing it up 😉

Hi Halifax,
I,like you,would love to see ‘337 placed in a building she could be rolled into and out of,but there are always limiting factors with these things, like planning permission,finances and/or the size of the site in general.From what I recall,the site where 337 is being resored is not a large one,and a larger building would therefore take up a large proportion of the museum’s land,which is currently used for displaying other exhibits.I think they are in a position whre they can’t have thier cake and eat it.
To look on the bright side,she won’t be ‘entombed’ within the building in the same way as the Vulcan at the RAF Museum.A Halifax, as you probably already know,breaks down into numerous major sections,so it’s not impossible that she could be dismantled and moved again sometime in the future.Whilst there is the handicap of not being able to move the aircraft in the case of fire,I would suggest that it would be pretty tricky to move her in such a situation anyway.When the CWH hangar fire occurred a few years ago,the guys had to wait hours before the fire crews would let them into thier own hangar to retrieve the Lanc,and that was only because the fire was no longer threatening that area,so it’s not just a matter of having a door to push it through.
With regards to engine runs,I would say it is a very slim possibility that the engines on 337 would ever be run anyway.The Herc is a complex beast and there are seemingly no serviceable parts for them,so even if she had the space for engine runs,she wouldn’t be able to make use of it.

BUT…

Lancman,
Whilst I agree, Hendon cannot easily move their exhibits outside, and probably have no intention of doing so either, and, probably similar can be said for Duxford (although they CAN move a/c outside if they really want to) I feel you may have missed the point a little…
The Panton’s with NX611 are a fine example of what ‘could’ feasibly happen with NA337. She is indeed the prize exhibit, BUT, on nice days and special occasions, NX611 is rolled outside (and run up – which did not happen straight away) the same could be said for NA337, thus bringing the museum a considerable amount more dosh than they might at first imagine… What about those moody photo shots against a sunset, or the opportunity to rent NA337 out to television companies etc…
If NA337 is buried behind four walls, the chances for her to EVER run engines regardless of availability is reduced to zero. Shortsighted to say the least, on the part of whoever proposed the idea in the first place.
Over to you.
Halifax7

My first thoughts were ‘what if there’s a fire’, but then again, look at Hendon-umpteen historic aircraft, none of them able to see daylight again, or even to be moved in a hurry in the event of a disaster. Even museums that do have static aircraft that can be wheeled outside don’t seem to bother a lot-Duxford’s Lanc being a good example.

Engines-wise, I don’t think it’ll be quite so easy to find four running Hercs y’know!

Look at it this way; when complete, she’ll be the most complete original Halifax in the world, finally overtaking Hendon’s moving but wasted ‘wreck’ display as the premier example of the type in the world; be thankful for that!